Iron Maiden Moons the US

In an attempt to not re-post Blabbermouth’s news like many of the blogs out there (since yes, I, too am unfortunately tied to Blabbermouth for my news), I try to do a bit more analysis and opinion on certain things. Think of me as the pundit to your regular news hour. Anyway, I have often given Iron Maiden shit about their American tours. Now once again they’re skipping the midwest in the US for the most part, and unfortunately they’re not coming to Sweden except for the stupid Sonisphere festival which costs way too much to just see Maiden (RIP Dio.). But one of the things I’ve often complained about is Maiden‘s reluctance to do new tours in the US or to play deep cuts on tours (can’t you play Alexander the Great JUST ONCE!?).

There are reasons for this. Many Americans view Iron Maiden as a novelty act, and not as one of the best heavy metal bands in the world still putting out albums. Despite their post-2000 prolificacy, many of the people who go to see Iron Maiden in concert could give a shit less about anything post-1984 (you know who you are). But, as a fan of Iron Maiden‘s later material, I’ve always thought that their reluctance to tour the United States in the post-heavy metal era is totally ridiculous, characterized more by bruised egos at not packing stadiums with their new material more than anything else.

So when I saw this new setlist that they played in Dallas, Texas last night, I’m pretty sure that Maiden is seriously flashing their dirty bits at all those folks who want them to be a 1980s novelty act.

Now, granted, these guys still have the worst concept of what they do well of any band ever in history (honestly, that they’re still playing “The Reincarnation of Benjamin Breeg” live is just insane). But that setlist screams “we are a modern, relevant band.” And good on them! I love classic Maiden as much (or more) than anybody. But I gotta say that I’ve always been frustrated with the way that people treat Maiden in the modern music era, as though they haven’t produced a thing worth listening to since said complaining douchebag was 22 in the early 1980s. And while I think that Seventh Son of a Seventh Son is, indeed, Iron Maiden‘s greatest album, I think that A Matter of Life and Death was nearly as good. And I’m glad to see that they’re sticking to their guns.